Lee Recommends School Stay Closed Through End Of Year

Governor Bill Lee recommended Wednesday that schools remain closed through the end of the school year.

Lee said the state will work with each individual district to best provide education to students through the next several weeks.

“We want to make sure that there is flexibility for districts all across the state as they have critical year-end activities that they need to complete and to begin, in fact, preparing for next year,” Lee said. “This pandemic has created many challenges for families and for teachers and for students, and classroom time has been lost. Students have lost a significant amount of learning time, and we are committed to continuing to provide resources that will keep our students engaged.”

As much as concern exists about the academics lost during a two-month shutdown, Lee said the emotional toll on children is a huge concern.

“Schools and teachers are often the front lines in caring for students, particularly those that are in difficult situations,” Lee said. “Those are those that are most vulnerable, those that are most at risk. As a state, it will take all of us to ensure the safety and the well-being well-being of our children during the time that they are not in the structured environment of a classroom.”

Education Commissioner Peggy Schwinn will lead a task force focused on the well-being of children.

“Schools have been working together with local partners, churches, volunteers, school sites, staff and more to deliver meals, instructional lessons, work packets to students,” Schwinn said. “Policemen have been checking on students in their homes. Nonprofits are stepping up with critical supplies and supports. As a state, we want to help channel this type of energy innovation and problem solving.”

Lee said districts statewide should have the flexibility to make their own decisions, but he does not expect any school district to reopen.

Many Tennessee school systems have been closed since March through a combination of regularly-scheduled spring breaks and COVID-19. The move to keep students out of schools the rest of the year does not mean the year is over.

“We must ensure that children continue learning,” Schwinn said. “We will open schools next year and students will enter their new grades. It’s more important than ever before that our hard work continues, that we measure how students are doing and we support them where they need it.”